A compound in green tea called EGCG slows down a human enzyme that modifies estrogen, but it doesn’t block the enzyme’s main working spot—it sticks somewhere else to mess with how it works.

EGCG, a compound in green tea, sticks really well to a human enzyme called COMT, but it doesn’t fit right for the enzyme to change it—so it blocks the enzyme instead of getting modified itself.

A compound in green tea called EGCG, along with a couple of its modified versions, can strongly block an enzyme in your body that breaks down important chemicals like dopamine—so much so that it takes just a tiny amount to do the job.

Even though EGCG (a compound in green tea) sticks really well to a human enzyme that adds methyl groups, its shape doesn’t line up right with the tiny magnesium ion the enzyme needs to work—so it can’t be properly methylated, making it a bad fit for the job.

Scientists think a compound in green tea called EGCG can stick to a human enzyme in four different ways, using four special parts of its structure that love to grab onto the enzyme like tiny magnets.

A compound in green tea called EGCG is way better than other similar compounds at blocking an enzyme in the body that modifies estrogen, making it hundreds of times more effective at doing this job.